President-elect Donald Trump threatened a federal takeover of Washington, D.C., while on the campaign trail, and District leaders are bracing for what could happen once he's back in office.
Trump made the District, home to an overwhelming majority of Democrats, a target in his re-election campaign.
"We will take over the horribly run capital of our nation in Washington, D.C., and clean it up, renovate it and rebuild our capital city so there is no longer a nightmare of murder and crime," Trump said while campaigning in Florida over the summer. "But, rather, it will become the most beautiful capital anywhere in the world. Right now, if you leave Florida – let's go, darling. Let's look at the Jefferson Memorial, let's look at the Washington Monument. Let's go and look at some of the beautiful scenes, and you end up getting shot, mugged, raped."
During a separate campaign stop, Trump said: "And we're going to take it away from the mayor. And, again, that doesn't make me popular there, but I have to say it."
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Mayor Muriel Bowser took those threats seriously and her administration was preparing earlier this year for how the District could be affected by a Trump win, News4 reported.
"I have worked with three presidents, including President-elect Trump, and congressional leaders of both parties to advance the priorities of the District — And driven by our values, we will pursue a collaborative approach to our federal priorities in the District," Bowser said in a statement Wednesday on Trump's victory.
Any president of the United States has enormous power when it comes to D.C. because it's not a state. The president can take over the police department and many of the powers the mayor and D.C. Council have.
There are concerns a second Trump administration, particularly with a Republican-controlled House and Senate, could affect local laws on everything from abortion to traffic cameras. Multiple sources told News4 in July that Bowser's team was bracing for all those possibilities and more.
How would Trump be able to take over DC?
The president has the power to reinstate the Control Board, an authority appointed by the president that took control of local D.C. matters from 1995 to 2001.
Former D.C. Council Member Jack Evans was on the council in the 1990s when then-President Bill Clinton took control of the city away from the mayor and council. He's previously said he's not optimistic about the potential results if the Control Board returns.
"It would be catastrophic for the city, because you get one swing at the plate," Evans said. "A second time we get a Control Board in this city, we won't get rid of it, and it'll be here for a long, long time. So, I can't stress the importance of this not happening."
"Democracy would pretty much not exist in the sense that the Control Board and city manager would be running the city," Evans explained. "The mayor would have ceremonial functions like Barry did back in the day," referring to former Mayor Marion Barry Jr.
The council would still exist, meet and pass laws, according to Evans, "but the Control Board could overturn any law that the council passed."
The Control Board never went away; it just went dormant. The president could declare either a fiscal or crime emergency and then appoint a five-member authority that would run the city. That would include the day-to-day operations of the D.C. government.
Under those circumstances, the mayor and D.C. Council would have very little power.
D.C.'s nonvoting delegate in Congress, Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, said she also is taking the former president's threats seriously.
"Well, I'm very concerned that he would take over the District of Columbia. My level of concern could not be deeper," Norton told News4 in the summer. "You know, presidents usually don't pay that much attention to the city, and it looks like he would be laser-focused on the District of Columbia."
How Trump could federalize DC's police department
Bowser and her advisors also braced for the possibility Trump would follow through with threats to take control of public safety.
Trump has vowed on Truth Social, the social media platform he owns, to make D.C. "crime-free."
The president does have broad powers to fight crime in D.C., with the ability to declare a crime emergency. The president could even invoke the Insurrection Act, which then-President Trump considered in 2020 to tamp down on protests in D.C. streets.
The president also has the power to federalize D.C.'s Metropolitan Police Department, deputize the National Guard and give them law enforcement powers in D.C., and activate military and federal law enforcement agencies such as the U.S. Park Police. That's according to a 2021 memo by D.C.'s attorney general.
The District's attorney general could try to block any takeover by going to court – but sources in the Bowser administration told News4 there's very little chance any court challenge would be successful. That is, again, because D.C. is not a state – making the president's powers clear.
In 2020, instead of invoking the Insurrection Act, Trump used National Guard troops during protests outside the White House. He also brought in federal law enforcement officers, including Bureau of Prisons officers, to protect federal buildings.
How Trump could change DC laws on guns, cannabis and more
D.C. leaders are also concerned that Republicans could change D.C. laws if they take control of the House and the Senate, including laws on immigration, abortion and physician-assisted suicide.
"There's no question that the District, which is a liberal city which has already issued laws protecting abortion – the issues like that would be open for complete redo," Norton said.
"He wants to take some of the priorities that we have passed, like the D.C. noncitizens voting rights law. He wants to scrap traffic speed cameras. What's that got to do with him?" she said.
Bowser administration officials have been paying close attention to Project 2025, which many believe – and the project creators themselves say – is a blueprint for a second Trump administration.
Project 2025's "Playbook" has multiple recommendations specifically for Washington, D.C., including changes to public education.
Those recommendations include:
- expanding school vouchers
- prohibiting schools from teaching critical race theory
- prohibiting benefits based on race
Furthermore, while Trump has said he wants to keep the FBI's headquarters in D.C., against the wishes of D.C., Maryland and Virginia leaders, Project 2025 recommends moving several federal agencies currently headquartered in D.C. out of the city.
That would have a negative effect on the already struggling downtown D.C. economy.
The agencies affected by that plan include the U.S. Customs and Immigration Service, the Bureau of Land Management and the Federal Aviation Administration.
Norton praised Bowser for preparing now for the possibility of a Trump presidency, saying, "It's pretty clear he's going to be elected."
Some of the local laws that District leaders fear could be affected by a Trump administration – which, in a federal takeover of the city, could enforce federal law – include:
- barring non-citizens from voting in local elections
- abortion rights
- gun laws
- legalized cannabis
- the minimum wage
